Kurt’s practice focuses on the areas of communications, intellectual property, and media law. He has represented a wide variety of clients, from major companies such as Scripps Networks, LLC and Procter & Gamble, Inc., to regional telecommunications companies, to freelance writers and local non-profit organizations. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation and Corporate Departments.
Kurt has advised clients on media and IP issues, helping to ensure their interests stay protected in some of the fastest-changing areas of law. His role as adviser has encompassed: online and social media marketing rule compliance; social media and blogger policies; copyright matters including software licensing, co-authorship agreements, and work-for-hire agreements; fair use; Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor compliance; issuing and responding to copyright takedown notices; responding to allegations and concerns of copyright and trademark infringement; wireless/wireline telephony and cable system regulatory compliance; personal and commercial defamation; open records/open meetings compliance; and privacy law.
As a litigator, Kurt has defended clients against allegations of defamation, trademark infringement, and cybersquatting, as well as a variety of commercial matters including telecommunications rate disputes, breaches of contract, breaches of fiduciary duties, partnership and ownership disputes, and subpoena responses. In 2011, Kurt argued and won a landmark Privacy Act case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, securing his client's right to bring claims against the Department of Homeland Security for records violations.
Kurt has served as an adjunct professor at Xavier University teaching Media Law and Policy, and has published academic work related to broadcast content regulation, copyright, and internet law. While a student at the University of Michigan Law School, he served as a law clerk in the Executive Office of Governor Jennifer M. Granholm.